Consumer prices in Turkey rose by 44.4 percent in October from a year earlier, while wholesale prices climbed by 41.4 percent in the same period, the state statistics institute announced Friday. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 3.1 percent in October from September and wholesale prices were up by 2.8 percent.

Price increases stood at 49 percent in September, the first time that Turkey's chronic inflation dropped below 50 percent in more than a decade. Inflation has been on a decline since December, when Ankara launched a comprehensive program of economic reforms under a three-year, four-billion-dollar stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The government aims to cut inflation to 20-25 percent by the year's end, 10 percent in 2001 and 5.0 percent in 2002. Experts agree the government will not be able to fulfill the 2000 target, but say the program is still a success. Turkish inflation reached 68.8 percent in 1999 and 69.7 percent in 1998. — (AFP, Ankara)